Behavioural economics
Traditional economic theory assumes that human decisions are based on rational choices. But work by Daniel Kahnemann, Amos Tversky, Richard Thaler and others has revealed biases in human decisionmaking. These biases have be taken into account to design effective policy interventions.
I use a behavioural economics lens to understand how households make choices about clean energy and climate-resilient housing. Is affordability or access to finance the only determining factor? Are institutional arrangements the only constraint? Or do policies and incentives need to be designed differently to encourage households to make low carbon and climate-resilient choices?
Climate change, urbanization, and the housing sector in Karnataka: pilot study on energy use and behavioural change
2015-16
This study applied behavioural economics tools to understand how biases in human decisionmaking and institutional constraints affect the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency by urban Indian households. It focused on the implementation of two schemes: rooftop solar photo voltaic (RTPV) with net metering and the switch to LED lighting under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP). A household survey and key informant interviews were carried out in Ramanagara, a small city in Karnataka with a population of about 95,000.
This study was funded by the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka. The results of the pilot study were presented in conferences/seminars organized by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), International Education for Sustainable Development Alliance (Hiroshima), and Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (Oslo).
Scoping and project design work on climate resilient housing: Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR)-Bangladesh
2014 – 2015
In this assignment for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), I designed a large-scale household survey to understand and quantify the damage to housing due to floods and cyclones in coastal Bangladesh. I also interviewed housing finance institutions, government disaster management agencies, and NGOs in the affordable housing sector. I determined the economic impact of climate disasters on the housing stock, households’ ability to pay and willingness to pay for climate-resilient housing. Based on these surveys and extensive stakeholder interviews, I designed suitable business models for the private sector (banks, housing finance institutions, insurers) to provide climate-resilient housing to low income households.